Phoenix Child Welfare director Aroona Chetty with businessman and philanthropist Vivian Reddy, Dave Dipooa, president of Phoenix Child Welfare Sharm Maharaj and senior social worker Nadia Munsamy.
The sprawling north Durban township of Phoenix recently opened its first “Baby Safe” under the auspices of the Phoenix Child Welfare (PCW) due to the increasing number of abused, abandoned, destitute and orphaned children in the area.
Based in Triplen Circle, Northcroft, the R1.2 million double-storey home that can accommodate about 24 children, was officially opened recently by businessman and philanthropist, Vivian Reddy, who was also the main sponsor of the building.
Shocking statistics revealed by the Phoenix Child Welfare showed that 117 babies were reported as abandoned during 2020 and 2021 and only 66 of those babies were found alive.
It is hoped that with the opening of this Baby Safe, mothers have an option of safely leaving their unwanted babies instead of abandoning them in bins, refuse dumps and drains.
Leenie Gounder, senior social worker at the Phoenix Child Welfare said the abandonment of babies was a growing problem in the community and in the past few years had seen a sharp increase.
“In an attempt to address this issue, the welfare has installed the baby safe on the boundary wall at our children’s home complex, to assist mothers who feel that they are not in a position to take care of their babies. They can leave their babies in the safe, in a safe and secure environment as an alternative to leaving them in harsh conditions where their chances of survival are reduced. There is total anonymity and no questions will be raised,” said Gounder.
She said once the baby was placed in the baby safe, an alarm or message is sent out to four different people including their house mother.
“The baby will be immediately removed from the baby safe and moved to a fully equipped baby nursery to undergo a full medical check-up and other necessary legal procedures. The baby safe will not only give children an opportunity and a chance to survive, but to thrive in a safe and loving environment,” said Gounder.
Aroona Chetty, director of the Phoenix Child Welfare, said the organisation’s core function was to protect the child in whichever way possible and the opening of the Baby Safe will assist in this greatly. She said the new house for the affected children in the area was also a positive move.
“We get daily allegations of child abuse where social workers have to go out and investigate an in many cases we have had to remove these children from their homes. Sadly the demand for children to be removed to places of safety has seen such a sharp increase that we actually cannot cope with the existing facilities, hence this new house, will make a big difference to us.
“In 2019, we had bought two houses – one being a nursery and the other a children’s cluster foster care and we couldn’t be more happier to have built this bigger structure to accommodate more children.”
Ms Chetty said the Phoenix Children’s Home aims to ensure that it meets the needs of children who cannot live with their own families for various reasons – by minimising the trauma and damaging effects associated with the removal and placement of the children in alternate care.
In addition to providing food, shelter, space for play and leisure in a caring environment, it also acts as a place where children can grow and develop.
Sharm Maharaj, president of the Phoenix Child Welfare, said in the past few years, the organisation had to remove more than 200 children that have been abused, abandoned and experienced various other social problems.
“We have had to accommodate those children with various families outside of Phoenix due to the lack of space. The organisation could only accommodate eight of these children in the area at existing facilities. We then put out an appeal for funding to build a new home to accommodate more children and were extremely happy when we received R1.2m from the Sibaya Community Trust,” said Mr Maharaj.
Mr Reddy, chairperson of the Sibaya Community Trust, said he would always support the Phoenix Child Welfare as they “do amazing work”.
“It really warms my heart that we were able to lend our support so that this dream of the Phoenix Child Welfare could become a reality. We are hoping that other organisations in various communities can emulate the Phoenix Child Welfare because it is people like this that make South Africa a better place for all of us,” said Mr Reddy.
He called on other organisations to support the Phoenix Child Welfare. “Even if you don’t have a business or money, use your time to serve your communities so that you can say you made a big difference in life. The only thing we can leave behind when it’s time for use to leave this earth, is our conscience so let’s all leave behind a good conscience,” said Mr Reddy.